Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, listens as reporters ask questions during his meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, listens as reporters ask questions during his meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday denied a request to disqualify top Justice Department officials from supervising the prosecution of the man charged with trying to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
Cole Tomas Allen that involvement in his prosecution by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro created a potential conflict of interest because they were among many administration officials present at the April dinner. Allen's attorney also had raised concerns about the close friendship between Trump and Pirro, .
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden wrote in his ruling that neither their attendance at the dinner nor Pirro's personal relationship with the president merited their disqualification. McFadden noted that Allen is not charged with attempting to harm Blanche and Pirro, and there is no evidence to suggest he even knew they would attend the dinner.
“They are unlikely to be trial witnesses, nor do they meet the legal definition of victims,” wrote McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.
Allen has been accused of trying to breach a security checkpoint armed with guns and knives. He to various charges, including assaulting a federal official with a deadly weapon and attempted assassination of the president. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge alone.
Allen also is accused of during the attack, which disrupted and ultimately prompted an early end to one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital. The Secret Service officer who was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest fired his own weapon five times without hitting anyone. Allen, of Torrance, California, was injured but was not shot.
